Inside Bay Area reports:
BERKELEY
-- City planning and building officials are proposing a package of
safety-related urgency ordinances in response to the June 16 collapse of a
fifth-floor balcony at a downtown apartment complex that killed six young
adults and injured seven more. A city councilman, meanwhile, is proposing
tougher building and inspection standards for balconies.
The
City Council is scheduled to consider the proposals on July 14.
An
inspection by Berkeley building official Alex Roshal and Senior Building
Inspector Steve Messinger on June 16 found the cantilevered joists
of the balcony, at the Library Gardens at 2020 Kittredge St., completely shorn
off about 16 to 20 inches from the exterior building face, with a torn
waterproofing membrane hanging over the joist ends, according to a report from
Roshal. The deck joist ends protruding from the exterior wall appeared to be
severely dry-rotted, the report stated.
The
rotted wood beams that held a balcony jut out from side of the residential
apartment building on Kittredge Street in Berkeley on June 17, 2015. Six people
died and seven others were seriously injured when the balcony collapsed. (Laura
A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)
Planning
and Development Director Eric Angstadt proposes adding several sections to the
city Building Code.
